Lwt. Crew struggles at Callow Cup

The Penn lightweight crew team suffered a hard loss in its last regular season race this weekend, the Callow Cup. However, the Quakers refused to let it shake their confidence for the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges Sprints, less than two weeks away.

"Team morale is just as good as it was before," sophomore Dave Read said. "This experience just makes us want to work harder."

Nevertheless, the results from the Callow Cup were somewhat disappointing. In the varsity eight race, Georgetown came in first in 5:51.3, Navy finished a close second in 5:52.4, while Penn finished well behind both crews in 6:01.3. The race results certainly bode well for Georgetown. The previously lowly-regarded Hoyas beat a Navy team that upset No. 4 Harvard two weekends ago.

However, Navy was able to maintain superiority in both the second varsity eight race and the first novice race. Navy's second varsity eight came in at 5:59.0 beating Georgetown at 6:06.1 and Penn at 6:11.9.

In the freshman race, there was a lot of space between crews. Penn came in second, losing to Navy by 10 seconds but beating Georgetown by five seconds.

However, the Quakers will not be dwelling on these results in the next week and a half.

"We're going to take every positive that came out of [the race]," Read said. "We're not going to let one race get us down. We're going to look forward."

If Penn is thinking about their defeat, it is looking at it as one more chance to scrutinize what the team did well and what needs work.

"Every race is a learning experience, especially with a young varsity crew," coach Mike Irwin said.

One important thing that went well for the Quakers was their start. However, they got in trouble later in the race.

"We were able to do some things in the first 700 meters that we hadn't done all season," Irwin said. "[But] we couldn't find the rhythm in the rest of the race that we'd had all season."

As a result of the race, the Red and Blue are planning on attacking the first 500m at Sprints the way they did this weekend and follow the start with a solid base in the middle, as they did at the Wood-Hammond Cup two weekends ago.

The race "is one more thing we'll use a tool to be better on May 11," Irwin said.

Penn is looking to put its experience from the season to use in the only race that matters -- Sprints.

"The crew is positive about learning, getting back and coming back to compete," Irwin said. "There's more work ahead, and they're ready for that."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.